British politician: ‘consider compulsory abortion’ for Downs babies

LONDON, December 19, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has suspended a candidate after an uproar when he wrote that it should be mandatory to kill all disabled unborn children. Geoffrey Clark wrote on his website that women carrying children suspected of serious disabilities like Downs syndrome and spina bifida should be forced to have abortions in order to cut back on health care costs. He also called for legalization of euthanasia, free “euthanasia counselling” for people over 80 years old, and the introduction of a two-child population control policy.

Clark, a 66-year-old chartered accountant wrote in his political manifesto that the government should review the National Health Service’s expenditures, saying the review should “re-examine the pregnancy abortion time limit. Consider compulsory abortion when the foetus is detected as having Downs, spina bifida or similar syndrome which, if it is born, will render the child a burden on the state as well as on the family.”

Until today, Clark was UKIP’s candidate for Kent County Council and was standing for Gravesham Borough Council in a by-election on Thursday, a stepping-stone to a parliamentary seat.

The NHS review, he said, also ought to reconsider medical treatment for people over the age of 80, which he called “disproportionately costly.” The NHS ought to consider offering “free euthanasia advice to all folk over 80 years of age,” Clark suggested, “and indeed to all others.”

He described the rise in population in Britain as “desperately bad, pitiable, scary, and a cause for bowing of heads in national shame.” Citing the 18th century father of eugenics Thomas Malthus, Clark wrote, “Population growth and declining quality of life go hand in hand.” He said that the UK should “attack mercilessly” those developing countries with high rates of population growth like Kenya, Nigeria, and Mexico.

“We must attack them for their wantonness; we must reduce their overseas aid to zero if they do not reduce the rapidly rising trend of population growth. Criticize the Pope and the Catholic Church for their wanton negligence on this subject,” he suggested.

“In the UK, restrict Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit to the first two children only, and withdraw those benefits if there is a third and fourth child. The state should not subsidize large families. Educate people to have no more than two children,” he proposed. “We must use all fair means to stabilize the UK population at 62 million, including leaving the EU.”

The comments caused an uproar in the media and social media sites like Twitter. Later, Clark appeared to backpedal from them, saying, “they are for the commission to consider how best to cut service levels if it is decided to do so.”

UKIP issued a statement on Tuesday saying that Clark has been suspended as a candidate and that his views do not reflect the party’s policies. A UKIP spokesman said the party rejects the “abhorrent views expressed in the personal manifesto of Mr. Geoffrey Clark.

“The party was not aware of these views when it allowed him to stand under our name. We can confirm that Mr. Clark has been formally suspended as a UKIP candidate. His membership is undergoing disciplinary hearing.

“UKIP would like to apologize to anyone who has suffered distress as a result of this matter.”

The learning disability charity Mencap called Clark’s comments “abhorrent,” but his comments, while politically damaging, generally reflect the feelings of most in Britain where eugenic sentiments have grown. Polls have suggested that as many as 75 percent of British people think abortion should be allowed for disability and abortion lobbyists agree.

In 1990, when some MPs introduced legislation lowering the legal age limit for abortion, abortion campaigners in parliament allowed it to pass on the condition that all age restrictions be removed for eugenic abortion.

Since then, it has become the norm for doctors to recommend abortion under “Ground E” whenever a prenatal test finds a chance of Downs or another “serious” disability. This pressure from doctors to abort disabled children is starting to be noted by medical groups. A 1999 report in the Independent said the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services reported “a stream of complaints” from women who tried to refuse prenatal tests, who were “bullied or treated like pariahs.” The group said that some women would go so far as to avoid all prenatal care until 24 weeks to avoid pressure to abort a potentially disabled child.

In 2001 in England and Wales, there were 1,641 abortions committed under Ground E alone with a further 81 being Ground E combined with another reason. Of this number, 127 were for spina bifida and 347 for Down’s syndrome, six of these abortions being done after 24 weeks.

Since the Conservative Party started adopting more and more left-liberal social policies, refused to bring forward a promised referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU and has done nothing substantive to stem unregulated immigration, UKIP has surged in the polls. This week a former Tory MP reported that more than one in ten Conservative voters at the last election now backs the libertarian UKIP.

Of those, only one-quarter cite the Conservative party’s position on Europe that once formed UKIP’s raison d’être.

Since UKIP started opposing the coalition government’s plans to introduce same-sex “marriage,” polls started showing a jump in the party’s popularity. It has now, without a single MP in the House of Commons, moved to replace the government coalition partner Liberal Democrat party as third after Labour and the Conservatives.

Former Tory vice chairman Lord Ashcroft said that even if the Cameron government offers a referendum now, it is too late to woo disaffected supporters back. Ashcroft’s poll of more than 20,000 voters found their main interests lay in economy growth, welfare, immigration and the deficit.

“These voters think Britain is changing for the worse. They are pessimistic, even fearful, and they want someone and something to blame. They do not think mainstream politicians are willing or able to keep their promises or change things for the better,” Lord Ashcroft told the Daily Mail.